Chapter 599: You Haven't Taken Off Your Mask Yet

If it were daytime, the Sword Saint Demon Emperor would even be confident in defeating him, but at night, his chances of winning were only one or two in ten,

at best

. This was the difference between the Eternal Night Sovereign at noon versus midnight.

"Where are they?" The Sword Saint Demon Emperor's cold voice rang out. The sword light retracted, transforming into a human figure that appeared not far in front of the Tenebrous Demon Emperor.

The Tenebrous Demon Emperor's face remained icy as he hovered in midair. "Which one of them are you

actually

asking about?"

"That young man, the one called Asura," the Sword Saint Demon Emperor said without hesitation.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," the Tenebrous Demon Emperor said flatly.

The Sword Saint Demon Emperor's pupils contracted, and his sword intent surged. He suddenly had a realization.

The sword is sacrifice!

He clearly remembered the young man's last message to him. Sacrifice. Had he really sacrificed himself?

Although he was a step behind the Sword Saint Demon Emperor, the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor was still in time to hear their exchange. "What about the Peacock Great Demon King and his daughter?"

"They escaped," said the Tenebrous Demon Emperor indifferently.

"They... what?!"

Upon hearing this answer, both the Sword Saint Demon Emperor and the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor felt incredulous. In front of a veteran Emperor, how could the Peacock Great Demon King escape? He wasn't in Kali City, now was he?

They both naturally overlooked people like Asura and Mei Gongzi. No matter how talented they were, champions of the elite competition and whatnot, they were still just some kids from the younger generation. Anyone below the god level wasn't even on their radar.

The Tenebrous Demon Emperor had personally pursued them, at night no less, yet they had managed to escape? This was not just surprising, but downright absurd.

The Tenebrous Demon Emperor coldly said, "That young man called Asura invoked some special powers to block me, allowing them to escape. They should have returned to Kali City by now."

The Ancestral Court had very strict rules. Even Emperors couldn't act arbitrarily against a main city. The Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor had a somewhat legitimate reason for causing trouble before, but now, he had no reason to act. The Peacock Great Demon King said they would be safe once they returned to Kali City, and he had good reason for it.

Even for the Ancestral Court, reclaiming control of a main city wasn't an easy task.

Asura had allegedly invoked some special power to block the Tenebrous Demon Emperor, allowing the Peacock Great Demon King and his daughter to escape. This left the Sword Saint Demon Emperor and the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor feeling absolutely stunned. But the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor felt a slight relief; at least the girl was still alive.

"I'm leaving." The Tenebrous Demon Emperor seemed unwilling to continue the conversation. His icy gaze swept over them before he transformed into darkness, disappearing into the night.

The Sword Saint Demon Emperor stood in place, closed his eyes, and extended his divine consciousness around him.

A moment later, he sensed the remnants of a powerful divine consciousness. Clearly, a battle had taken place here—a very intense clash between two divine consciousnesses, specifically. However, the remaining traces were very weak, leaving little evidence.

The Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor was also quietly sensing the surroundings. His divine consciousness wasn't as strong as the Sword Saint Demon Emperor's, so he perceived less of what had occurred. But the fact that the Tenebrous Demon Emperor failed to capture the Peacock Great Demon King and his daughter still left them both in disbelief.

An Emperor wouldn't lie; it was a matter of dignity. Moreover, there was no point for the Tenebrous Demon Emperor to lie, either; it was easy for them to uncover the truth with a little investigation. So... if he said that they had escaped, then they had escaped.

In the Sword Saint Demon Emperor's mind, he reconstructed the scene: Asura, at the cost of his life, had triggered the explosion of a divine weapon or something similar. This barely blocked the Tenebrous Demon Emperor's path and severed his lock on the Peacock Great Demon King and his daughter, preventing the Tenebrous Demon Emperor from succeeding in his pursuit.

For a young man who wasn't even a god, it was something to be proud of.

But on the other hand, he had given them five sword tokens. So why had those two youngsters refused to come to the Sword Saint Palace to seek his aid? Even though he had helped them from afar, the fact that they had returned the Red-Crowned Cranes' imperial treasure without any strings attached made it so his help didn't actually count as repayment.

And that young man named Asura... When the Sword Saint Demon Emperor first sensed him climbing the Sacred Mountain in the Sword Saint Palace, he greatly admired him. And today, Asura's understanding of the sword impressed him, truly impressed him. Unfortunately, it was all too late. Asura used his life to truly illustrate to him what it meant for the sword to be a sacrifice.

It was a pity he hadn’t gotten to see Asura's final strike, but to be able to block a Demon Emperor while not being a god himself... Even in death, he had every reason to be proud.

As he gazed in the direction of Kali City, the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor's eyes were complicated. He had originally planned to intercept the Peacock Great Demon King outside the Ancestral Court, kill him, capture Mei Gongzi, and then take over Kali City. This was the decision he had made after meeting the Peacock Great Demon King that day. But in the end, he had let the tiger return to the mountain. Kali City was the main city the Peacock Demon clan had managed for many years, and even as an Emperor, he had to be cautious. The injuries he sustained from his last visit hadn't fully healed yet. It seemed that more planning was needed.

"Your Majesty Sword Saint, I am returning as well."

"Alright. Let's go back together."

The Sword Saint Demon Emperor and the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor exchanged a glance, then simultaneously rose and flew toward the Ancestral Court.

The two figures disappeared into the distance, and the divine consciousness in the air slowly dissipated, as if nothing had happened here.

About half a day after the three Demon Emperors left, the sky brightened. The sunlight bathed the earth, bringing warmth and the breath of life.

Under the bright sunlight, the air suddenly twisted slightly. It was a very faint distortion, almost impossible to notice unless observed from a very close distance.

After a few seconds, the air twisted slightly again.

Gradually, the frequency of the distortion’s appearance increased, eventually changing from intermittent to continuous, and from a single point of distortion to an area. Time and space seemed to become strange; the distorted area appeared incongruous with everything around it.

Suddenly, light and shadows flickered, and all the distortions converged toward a single point. A figure appeared out of thin air, and all the twisted light and shadows instantly gathered toward it.

The mask on Tang San's face had disappeared, revealing his true appearance. He was completely naked, and every single hair on his body had vanished, indicating that his previous experience had been anything but usual.

The distorted light and shadows fluctuated faintly on his chest—an effect of the Spacetime Beacon he had obtained at the grand auction.

The Spacetime Beacon slowly settled on his chest, and another ring of distorted light emerged. A large amethyst appeared out of nowhere, floating above Tang San's head. A faint purple halo descended, injecting pure, purple light into his forehead.

This was a silent wilderness, devoid of people or beasts. In fact, even if there were normally demonic beasts in this area, after the Tenebrous Demon Emperor's visit last night, no creatures would dare to approach this place, which now seemed like a forbidden zone, for a good number of days.

The purple halo continuously flowed in, and some items drifted out of the Spacetime Beacon one by one—among them Tang San's two storage rings.

Tang San's forehead continued to absorb energy, like a bottomless pit. The large amethyst gradually dimmed.

By the time night fell again, the crystal had become entirely dull. It fell onto the ground and rolled to the side, now nearly transparent.

Tang San's eyelids trembled slightly—even his eyelashes had disappeared!

As his eyelids twitched, his skin began to crack, starting from his eyelids and extending across his body, turning into fragments that scattered in the air. Fresh, tender skin emerged, giving him a rather eerie appearance.

***

Kali City.

With tearful eyes, Mei Gongzi stood by the window, repeatedly murmuring, "Big Brother, you haven't taken off your mask yet. How could you leave me like this?"